Wall structure



May 5, 1925. 1,536,666 J. P. FRANZ WALL STRUCTURE Filed Feb. 27, 1924 2Sheets-Sheet-L Fll3.I.

' Md /9 6m wnwsssas 4 v May 5, 1925. 1,536,666

J. P. FRANZ WALL STRUCTURE F iled Feb '27, 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet 2Fllllit- Patented May 5, 1925.

, UNITED "STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOSEPH P. FRANZ, or KNOXVILLE, PENNSYLVANIA, assrenon. or ONE-THIRD r0211111.12 s. canes. or PITTSBURGH, rENNsYLvAnra.

"WALL STRUCTURE.

Application filed Feb ua y 27, 1924. Serial No. 695,450.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, Josnrn P. FRANZ, residing at Knoxville, in thecounty of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, a citizen of the UnitedStates, have invented or discovered a certain new and useful Improvementin Wall Structures, of which improvement the. following is aspecification.

My invention relates to building, and more particularly to wallstructure, and consists in a sheet-metal element having certainstructural characteristics, and in an assembly of duplicate sheet-metalelements with the other parts of a wall structure, and affordingbenefits and advantages both in the nature of cheapness and in thenature of efliciency.

My invention is illustrated in the accom panying drawings in which Fig.I shows in side elevation, and somewhat diagrammatically, a wall incourse of construction, having my invention present in it; Fig. II is aview in horizontal section on the plane indicated by the line II-II,Fig. I; Fig. III is a view in vertical section on the plane indicated atIIIIII, Fig. I; Fig. IV is a view in perspective of the sheet-metalelement in which the invention centers. Figs. V, VI, VII, and VIII areviews which correspond to Figs. 1, II, III, and IV, showing modificationin details of structure and assembly.

Referring first to Fig. IV, the sheet-metal element in which myinvention centers is there shown in perspective. It consists essentiallyof a rectangular sheet with opposite parallel edges bent at rightangles, having the medial web 1, and opposite parallel flanges 2integral with itself. I do not mean to limit myself in the matter ofdimensions, but, in order to give a clear apprehension of the sort of anarticle this is, it will be suflicient to say that it may be made ofsheet steel one-sixteenth of an inch thick, more or less. The medial webmay be one foot by two in dimensions, more or less, and the flanges maybe three inches deep, more or less.

Tongues 3 and 4 and opening 5 are slitted from the sheet-metal blank forends presently to be described. The medial web may be prepared to serveas a foundation upon which to spread plaster; to this end the drawingsshow the medial web to be slitted,

and one rim of each slit 6 to be spread aside, forming expanded holes inwhich the plaster when applied may intrude, and so in setting achieveproper anchorage. It is, of course, to be understood that wide latitudeis permitted in the manner in which the medial web may be prepared forthe reception of plaster, and further it will be understood that, if thespecific manner of preparation, which the drawings show, be followed,then this expanded opening 6 will open upwardly. This with respect tothe use of this sheet-metal element in construetion of vertical walls,in the manner presently to be fully described.

Turning to Figs. I, II, III, theyshow the assembly of a plurality ofelements such as that shown in Fig. IV, and now described, set against awall of masonry, in th s case a brick wall 7', and forming a. facing tothe masonry wall. The elements are set against the. face of the wallwith the edges of flanges 2 in immediate engagement with the bricks, andwith the tongues 3 extending into the spaces between the. successivecourses of brick, and there embedded in the mortar. Fig. I further showsthese, units set. in close array, flange to flange, in horizontal line,and in staggered succession, line upon line.

The tongues 3 are as shown advantageously slitted and bent aside fromthe upper edges of the flanges 2. Accordingly, the medial web exceeds invertical extent its terminal flanges, by the width of tongues 23. To theextent of this excess the medial webs of the vertically successive rowsof elements overlap, and being then secured by the tongue-and-slotconnection 4, 5, a structure of great rigidity is achieved. The rigidityis further enhanced by the fact that this tongue-and-slot union is madein the overlap of the assembled elements. The elements so provided,facing the wall 7, afford a continuous surface with proper anchorageupon which a facing of plaster 8 may be spread and keyed, similarly asupon a lath-covered wall.

Comparing now Figs. I, II, and III, it will be perceived that in thepractice of my invention the plaster laid on is very secure. First ofall, as I have noted, the structure upon which the plaster is spread isitself very firm. The plaster layer extends in continuity; it isseparated throughout its whole extent from the masonry wall;

it is wholly insulated, so far as any practical passage of moisture isconcerned, from the masonry wall; it is separated from the masonry wallby a space of uniform width; and not only does the construction makeimpossible any appreciable conduction of moisture from brick wall toplaster, but gives, at the same time, in the highest degree, heatinsulation as well.

The tongues, being made of sufficient length and being flexible, adaptthemselves to the conoitions of building, and may be carried to thenearest seam between courses of masonry to afford proper anchorage.

Turning now to the modification shown in Figs. V, VI, VII, and VIII, andfirst to the View in perspective elevation, VIII, it will be perceivedthat the structure 1 is substantially that already described. In thiscase the tongues 4 extend from the flanges 2* at points intermediate thevertical extent, and the openings 5 are formed medially of the width ofthe article. The unit as shown in Fig. VIII will be under stood to be ofthe general dimensions, corresponding to those already indicated, exceptin the matter of vertical extent. I do not mean this to be a limitation,but merely an illustration of the adaptability of the invention, when Isay, that as shown in Figs. V, VI, VII, and VIII, the units are ofconsiderable length, to extend vertically from the floor to the ceilingof a room.

Figs. V, VI, and VII show the assembly, and here the flanged elements 1appear to be secured to and to serve as the facing of, not a mortar andbrick wall, as shown in Figs. I, II, and III, but a wall composed ofanother series of such like units 1, each series of units set in closearray, side by side, and the units of the two sets in the staggeredarrangement shown in Fig. IV.

The assembly is secured by means of tongues a interlocking in theopening 5. Each wall facing then serves as the support and backing ofthe other, and the two together afford, on opposite sides, twocontinuous surfaces for the support of plaster, and two sheets ofplaster, when applied, will extend, as separate sheets, firmlysustained, and fully insulated, each from the other, as against passageboth of moisture and of heat.

The two rows of units 1 may, of course, be secured above and below inany suitable manner, as by attachment to beams 9 and 10, as shown.

I claim as my invention:

1. A unit for a wall structure formed of sheet metal and including amedial plastersustaining web, opposite terminal flanges adapted to beardirectly upon the vertical surface of an adjacent wall member, andtongues extending from said terminal flanges and adapted to engage suchadjacent wall member and by engagement to sustain. the unit togetherwith the plaster facing thereof.

2. A unit for a wall structure formed of sheet metal and including amedial plaster-sustaining web, opposite terminal flanges bent from theplane of the medial web and of less extent along the line of the bendthan the medial web, an opening cut in the medial web adjacent oneunflanged edge F and a tongue out and bent from the substance of themedial web adjacent the opposite unflanged edge.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

JOSEPH P. FRANZ. W'itnesses C. S. CHESS,

BAYARD H. CHRIsTY.

